New Talent Animation Prize for Former Fame Academy Contestant

A Scots singer-songwriter who appeared on the BBC talent show, Fame Academy, has been recognised at an awards ceremony celebrating the best new television, film and games talent in Scotland.

Ainslie Henderson – who is studying at the Edinburgh College of Art – was last night named the winner of the Animation category at the New Talent Awards organised by BAFTA in Scotland, in association with Channel 4 and Creative Scotland.

His 'It’s About Spending Time Together' beat off the challenge of How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep?, by Anna Ginsberg, who will have been more than consoled by taking the Best New Worlk title, considered to be the most sought-after of the awards on offer.

Say the organisers: “Anna’s winning piece, a four-minute stop-frame animation, was commissioned by Island Records to promote Bombay Bicycle Club’s single, How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep?, and has notched up more than 500,000 hits on YouTube.

In a statement issued by the organisers, Henderson is quoted as saying: “This is the first time I’ve ever won anything. It feels amazing, especially as I made the film for my family and never intended it to be shown publicly. To be awarded by BAFTA in Scotland and to be amongst such amazing talent, some of them friends, is just brilliant. What an incredible night.”

The BAFTA in Scotland New Talent Awards are “open to new work made by students and first-time practitioners and highlight the bright future of Scottish film, television and games”.

This is the fourth year they have been held.

Today's Scotsman newspaper carries a two-page feature on the winners, by Andrea Mullaney.